home invasions

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Blissful Ignorance?

March 10, 2014 by 4 Comments

Sometimes you read letters to the editors that just make you shake your head. This is especially true when they are published in papers with a history of pushing for more and more (useless) gun control.

A case in point is this letter to the editor published Thursday in the Hartford Courant. I have left off the author’s name and address out of mercy.

I like guns. I like the smell, the heft, and the look of them; but I don’t own one or want to own one.

A properly stored gun is useless for defending my home. I know enough responsible gun owners to understand that it would take way too long to unlock a gun safe and load a gun, especially in the dark.

If you really believe that the threat of an armed homeowner would scare away an intruder, try to make some mechanism that would imitate the sound of a pump-action shotgun. That would be just as effective, and a lot safer.

While I might agree that a firearm stored in a gun safe in the garage or basement would take too much time to grab in an emergency, there are such things as bedside pistol safes which are both secure and easy to open. That is presupposing break-ins or home invasions only come when we are tucked away in our beds dreaming of sugar plum fairies.

As residents of my area learned this past week, home invasions can come at 11am in nice quiet, semi-rural neighborhoods. A pistol in a holster on your belt is properly stored and is not useless for defending your home. Moreover, you are not searching for your firearm at the last moment.

I might also add that those of us without children or grandchildren in the house do have more options insofar as keeping a firearm nearby.

The writer’s suggestion of a pump-action noise maker is a case of someone believing everything that comes out of Hollywood. You might do just as well with a recording of a German Shepherd barking loudly and scratching at the door that is turned on by an infrared switch. That is, of course, until the intruder figures it out and kicks in your door.

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This Is Why You Need More Than An Arbitrary Ten Rounds

January 5, 2013 by 5 Comments

The gun prohibitionists tell us we don’t need more than 10 rounds in a magazine as if they are THE experts in self-defense and home defense. Tell that to the mother who shot an intruder five times as he cornered her and her twin nine year-old children. Though the criminal is now in the hospital in critical condition, he was still able to leave the scene on his own two feet.

While I’m a big revolver fan, I realize that they have their limitations and this story illustrates it. I’m not going to second guess this woman’s choice of weapon as it worked for her but it could have turned out much differently if there were multiple attackers.

The next time someone tells you that no one needs that much capacity, ask them what would have happened to this mother and her children if there had been two, three, or even four intruders. Do they really think the intruders would have let them live after seeing their friend shot? I certainly don’t think so and I certainly don’t think mothers and their children should be sacrificed on the altar of gun control because some politician felt the need “to do something”.

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Don’t Think A .22LR Isn’t Useful For Self-Defense?

December 21, 2011 by 10 Comments

Mall ninjas and Internet commandos will tell you that “bigger is always better” and that “if the caliber doesn’t begin with a 4” it’s useless. I hate to break it to them but even a .22LR can be used successfully for self-defense.

A case in point. Yesterday evening in Magalia, California (Butte County north of Sacremento), John Randolph Shanks III found out the hard way that even one shot from a .22LR can kill you. Mr. Shanks had just forced his way into a Magalia residence along with an accomplice when the homeowner shot him once in the chest with a .22 handgun. When Butte County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrived, they tried to revive him to no avail. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

So was Mr. Shanks just some down on his luck guy looking for food and a warm place to crash? Not really.

According to Butte County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Jason Hail,

Shanks was released from state prison in mid-November, but he reportedly failed to report to the Butte County Probation Department as required.

Hail said probation had issued a request that law enforcement be on the look out for Shanks, and were in the process of getting an arrest warrant for the man.

According to Butte County Court records Shanks was sentenced to state prison in April 2010, after being convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and felony attempting to evade a peace officer. In 2007 he was also convicted for attempting to evade a peace officer. He was sentenced to prison then.

In 2003 he was sent to prison on a charge of “resisting an executive officer.”

The best part of this article is where they say “no charges have been filed against the shooter”.

I don’t recommend a .22LR for self-defense but if it is all you have, then go with it. I’d say the homeowner was lucky and, obviously, Mr. Shanks was not in this case.

Michael Bane has been making the point recently in his podcasts concerning the debate between the 9mm Luger and the larger cartridges that more holes are better even if they are smaller. Moreover, he makes the point that even if it is “only a .22”, no one wants to be shot.

H/T Guns Save Lives

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Who Needs “Extended” Magazines?

February 7, 2011 by

Just as Stephen Hunter said in an op-ed in the Washington Post, defenders needed standard (or large) capacity magazines.

For them, the Glock with a 33-round magazine is the weapon of maximum utility. You can load it on Sunday and shoot it all month. (Nobody wants to reload a gun while being shot at.) It’s light and easy to control. You don’t have to carry it or conceal it; it’s under the bed or in the drawer until needed. When the question arises of who needs an extended magazine, the answer is: the most defenseless of the defenseless.

Those who would ban extended magazines, will say that although hundreds of thousands are in circulation and thousands more will surely be sold before a ban is enacted, it will be worth it if it saves just one life. But the other half of that question must be asked, too: Is it worth it if it costs just one life?

As one would expect, the comments are full of derision for Hunter and his stance. From reading them, you would think all anti-gunners had the shooting skills of Annie Oakley and thus didn’t need more than one or two rounds.

To confirm the need for protection against home invaders comes this video from WSAZ in southern Ohio. The area has seen a large increase in home invasions and residents are stepping up to protect themselves. When even the former Sheriff has to fight off home invaders, you know the thugs don’t care who they attack.

H/T Buckeye Firearms Assoc.